wegotism

Pronounced: WE-guh-tiz-uhm, noun

Notes: I didn’t know this word, but after seeing the definition, it makes sense

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Yesterday’s word

The word presenteeism means “the habit of coming to work despite illness or a hangover, resulting in low productivity”

First usage

This word showed up in the 1930s

Background / Comments

Our word in modeled on absenteeism; thus present plus ee plus ism. Some would argue that low productivity is better than none. That is true, as far as it goes, but if, by attending work when ill, it takes longer to recover than if one stayed home. For example, suppose that one is normally about 100% productive. The ill person who comes to work we will suppose to be about 50% productive. Furthermore, this person takes three days to recover… that’s three days at 50% productivity. The ill person who stays home and recovers in a single day and returns to work will have 0%, 100%, 100%, which averages to 67% productivity. In addition, if the illness is communicable, there is always the chance that the ill person will infect others. Businesses that give great awards for “perfect attendance” can tend to presenteeism.